Neukirchner The Top Honda Scorer As Rea Falls Twice

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea kept hold of third place in the Superbike World Championship this weekend despite suffering two falls in the 18-lap races at the high-speed Monza circuit.

Max Neukirchner

Broc Parkes

Rea’s misfortune meant that the top scoring Honda rider in Italy was his team-mate Max Neukirchner, who went 12th in each race, having qualified ninth. Each Monza race was won by Superpole winner Max Biaggi (Aprilia), the first from James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow (both Yamaha) and the second from Leon Haslam (Suzuki) and Troy Corser (BMW).

The first race was one to forget for Rea, as a promising run through to the leading pack from 11th after a bad start ended when he lost the front entering the Parabolica on lap nine, his machine ending up on the trackside tyre barriers. Rea was therefore unable to remount and continue racing.

Max Neukirchner was looking for a top ten finish in race one but took 12th after running on through one of Monza’s many chicanes, and neither of the other Honda riders in the race finished in the points.

In the second race, Rea was involved in a collision that saw two other riders also fall, Toseland and Ruben Xaus (BMW), and Jonathan hurt his left ankle, without suffering any fractures. Neukirchner was 12th again despite being forced into the gravel at one point, and he scored points twice on raceday for the first time in 2010.

ECHO CRS Honda’s Broc Parkes once more found issues with chatter in both practice and the races and despite making progress with his overall setup in only his second full race weekend of the year, he was only able to score points in race two.

Squadra Corse Italia Garvie Image entrant Vittorio Iannuzzo had no reason to celebrate at his home race, finishing neither race due to technical issues.

In the overall championship standings, Haslam has 181 points, Biaggi 178, and Rea is level with Checa on an unchanged 110 points - but ranked above the Spanish rider as Jonathan has two race wins so far and Checa only one.

Laverty Victorious As He Closes Championship Gap

Monza delivered the third race win of the year for Parkalgar Honda’s Eugene Laverty, and his second in succession, meaning his maximum points score drew him to within ten points of the Championship leader Joan Lascorz.

Second in qualifying, behind pole man Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) Laverty made an audacious and almost immediately decisive overtaking move into the new first chicane, sweeping around all the other front row starters to take a lead he would keep for all 16 laps of the race.

Sofuoglu ended up second but almost lost his place in the final couple of laps, when he ran wide into the Ascari chicane. He held off Lascorz to keep his place and move closer to the championship lead. In the overall points’ standings now, Lascorz has 101, Sofuoglu has 97 and Laverty is on 91.

Thanks to the combined push of Laverty and Sofuoglu today, Honda now leads Kawasaki by 19 points, 120 to 101, in the Manufacturers’ Standings.

Gino Rea from the Intermoto Czech Honda team was fighting for seventh in the race, but was ranked ninth after a close finish. Parkalgar Honda’s Miguel Praia had a tough qualifying session but recovered from 13th on the grid to finish tenth, riding without any pain for the first time since his big crash at Valencia. He remains 13th in the overall rankings.

The next race is scheduled for Kyalami, South Africa, next weekend, with raceday on May 16.

Eugene Laverty

Kenan Sofuoglu

SBK Rider QuotesJonathan Rea, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: DNF and DNF - 3rd overall. “Well it’s been a bad weekend for our assault on the championship. I made a small mistake at the end of the back straight in the first race when I was trying to avoid Leon [Haslam] and Cal [Crutchlow]. Then race two ended before it had begun when I got skittled off going in the first corner. But I’m not down in the dumps about it. It’s times like these that you can really tell the strength of a team and I know that this team is really very strong. They gave me a good bike this weekend but we couldn’t really make the most of it. I’m actually really excited at the challenge ahead, because we were able to make up quite a lot of points in the middle and end of last season. We’ll all pull together now and I fully intend to get back to winning ways at Kyalami next weekend.”

Max Neukirchner, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: 12th and 12th - 17th overall. “In race one I had a lot of chatter going into corners with the rear tyre. The chatter was really bad but the changes we made improved the bike a lot for race two. Unfortunately, as we went into the Ascari chicane on the first lap, Chris Vermeulen was on the inside and made a mistake, which forced me right across the gravel. When I got back on the track I was in last place, but the changes to the bike allowed me to brake deeper into the corners, with better grip levels, and I could get on the throttle faster on the exit.”

Broc Parkes, ECHO CRS Honda: 20th and 15th - 23rd overall. “We were still struggling with lots of chatter. We improved the bike a little bit for the races but in race one we ran through the chicane twice and had to take a ride through penalty. But I stayed out there. We got a point in race two, which was something.”

Vittorio Iannuzzo, SCI Garvie Image Honda: DNF and DNF - No ranking overall.“In race one my clutch was slipping from the start and then we changed the bike for race two. In second I had a problem with the handlebar and I could not ride properly, so I had to pull in.”

WSS Rider CommentsEugene Laverty, Parkalgar Honda 1st - 3rd overall. “I am delighted to have had two back-to-back wins. I started the year well in Phillip Island, then made a big slip-up in Portimao and crashed. I am still suffering from that weekend, being ten points behind Joan, but I am getting closer. It seems to be the same three riders in contention every weekend, and it is going to be fun all year.”

Kenan Sofuoglu, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: 2nd - 2nd overall. “At the beginning of the race I lost too much time behind Lascorz and in the second part I pushed hard until the end. I made a mistake near the end and that allowed Lascorz to catch me. I held him off until the end and I did my best. We wanted to have a better weekend, but I am happy to have made some ground up today in the championship. My bike was good enough to win the race today. Eugene did very well and did not make any mistakes.”

Michele Pirro, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: 4th - 8th overall. “I did not have a good start and it was difficult to follow the fastest riders. It was important for me to finish the race because the last two races I have not finished. I am happy to score good points in the championship.”

Gino Rea, Intermoto Czech Honda: 9th - 6th overall. “I keep ending up in a good scrap with other riders but in the wrong place, not up the front. I was behind Fujiwara and Pirro and got past them pretty easily, then Harms and Roccoli, but I could not get past Davies on the brakes, where we were struggling a bit. It is good for the championship because I have the same points as the fifth placed rider, but we still have work to do.”

Miguel Praia, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: 10th - 13th overall. “Definitely better today. It felt quite difficult in the beginning of the weekend, struggling for lap times, but in the race itself I was different. I improved my lap times by more than a second and finished tenth overall. I am happy about that also because in the race my wrist and ankle did not hurt at all.”

Massimo Roccoli, Czech Intermoto Honda: 11th - 11th overall. “I tried to pass Davies in the Roggia Chicane but we started sliding a lot and to prevent a crash between us I went onto the gravel and lost a lot of time. That was on the last lap and I was passed by Praia on the line. We had some problems with set-up today and in qualifying and I feel 11th is not my real position.”